football rules pedant

Swing and a miss. William and Mary grad transfer Justin Pierce is going to UNC.

So what's next? On WTKA this morning, Sam brought up Oakland grad transfer Jaevin Cumberland. Cumberland is a straight-up sniper SG and is thus a cleaner fit than Pierce, but until this year he'd been stuck playing deep bench minutes at a Horizon League school. His bust out this year was an alpaca out of nowhere experience, as he suddenly played 37 minutes a game and hit 40% of his 263 threes. Here are some highlights that will make you think it's 2005 again:

Mmm. Grainy.

Cumberland did get about a third of his shots inside the line last year and made most of those shots by attacking closeouts, but a 56% conversion rate at the rim against mostly low-major opponents is a strong indicator Cumberland would be Just A Shooter. This is fine for a lot of schools: he visited Oregon and Purdue and has NC State after him. FWIW, Purdue just landed High Point transfer Jahaad Proctor and is probably going to bank their last scholarship for 2020.

Cumberland's cousin is Cincinnati star Jarron Cumberland and the other Cumberland was rumored to have some Michigan fans in the family when he was briefly recruited by M a few years back. Hopefully that carries over.

Michigan's other shooting guard prospect, Bones Hyland, may need a prep year to get his grades in order after the ordeal that the last year of his life has been. That was briefly alluded to in this 24/7 article…

For now, Hyland is leaving all options open. Because he missed so much time and was off the radar, there was some thought of going to prep school, but for now that appears to not be the case.

“The plan right now is definitely to go in the class of 2019, but whatever happens, happens,” said Hyland.

…and Sam said something along those lines on WTKA today.

As far as the potential Iggy replacement goes, it looks like it's Franz or bust.

[After THE JUMP: basketball recruiting on trial! also just plain ol' basketball recruiting. And Tru Wilson]

The NCAA's passed some new rules. (One thing they did not pass: the anti-grad-transfer legislation. /waves tiny flag) Let's consider them.

Overtime must end

There was a seven-OT game that ended 74-72 last year, causing consternation amongst TV executives, players, coaches, and persons who fall asleep at reasonable times. There will never be a seven OT game again:

Moving forward, if a game advances to a fifth overtime, the teams will run alternating two-point plays instead of regaining possession from the 25-yard line like in prior overtime periods. … As part of the change, the NCAA is instituting two-minute rest periods after the second and fourth overtimes.

The degenerates of college football twitter hissed at this, because seven OTs is an event to remember. People who are not into late-night delirium are more numerous, unfortunately.

If they had to bring a definite end to a football game, two-point conversions are dumb. The article linked above calls it "football's version of penalty kicks," which is correct because penalty kicks are also dumb. That crazy California playoff OT system Spencer found is way better:

The format of The California Tiebreaker is butt-simple. The ball starts on the fifty. The winner of the coin toss gets possession, and each team receives four plays to move the ball however they like in the direction of the other team’s endzone.

The weirdness kicks in here: Each team trades possessions, and works the ball from the spot where their opponent left it on the previous play. Complete a pass to the opponent’s 35 yard line on the first play? That’s where they play their first. Because this is a godly solution to football’s overtime problem, field goals and punts are not allowed. If no one scores or turns the ball over after four plays, then the victor is determined by field position.

That ends a game in exactly eight plays and features passes in which receivers can run more than 13 yards downfield.

I still think OT periods should start from the 35 so you don't get a reasonably makeable field goal for going three and out.

[After THE JUMP: targeting roulette!]

Previously: hockey, soccer, basketball.

[Bryan Fuller]

This is about college football. The NFL list is "why are you the way you are" ten times.

10. Fumbles out of the endzone are treated like other fumbles.

Nonsense that a fumble that goes out at the one stays with the team that fumbled but one that brushes the pylon is a game-changing turnover. Way to emphasize the essentially arbitrary nature of both football and life, rule. You suck!

9. Count intentional grounding as a sack, and count sacks against pass yardage. 

This doesn't do anything to help on-field things but hoooooo boy do I want to throttle whoever came up with these inane statistical quirks that I shake my fist at every week during the season. If I was a defensive end and saw the QB fling the ball moments before I engulfed him and then I didn't get credit for a sack I would send a sternly-worded letter to someone. You better believe that.

8. Actually enforce illegal man downfield rules.

that's two count-em two Air Force OL seven yards downfield on a pass

It's three yards in college and one in the NFL, except it's more like infinity yards in college since refs don't bother calling it*. The lack of enforcement here has created an indefensible subset of run/pass option plays. Those are fine, as long as they stay within the rules. If OL are allowed to go downfield and cut block linebackers, which I have seen multiple times in UFR, you might as well bury defensive coordinators alive. They'll enjoy it more than defending RPOs.

*[Except once when Taylor Lewan engaged a guy on a pass block and blocked him so dang good they ended up a few yards downfield. In the aftermath the announcers admonished him for not being aware enough of where he was on the field; I swore so hard at these gentlemen that an iceberg shaped like a middle finger broke off of Greenland.]

7. College overtime starts at the 35.

The 25 is so close that even a three-and-out gives the offense a reasonably makeable field goal. Moving the start back to the 35 would make each overtime period more likely to be decisive and help prevent 6 OT marathons.

6. Adopt NFL punt coverage rules.

Spread punting and its seven gunners have made the punt return an increasingly boring exercise in watching several people surround a ball until it ceases moving.

That percentage doesn't include balls that aren't fielded at all.

The NFL prohibits all but two people from leaving until the ball is gone; adopting similar rules in CFB would restore some of the drama when man kicks ball to Jabrill Peppers-type object.

6. Adopt MGoPlayoff and never change it.

In a nutshell: 6 team playoff with home games the first two rounds and the championship at the Rose Bowl. Six teams allows all reasonable contenders in almost every year without much if any filler. Byes for the top two and home games help preserve the importance of the regular season despite the slight expansion of the field. Having things at the Rose Bowl is just obvious man. All things should be at the Rose Bowl.

5. Change the scholarship cap to an annual one.

I'm ignoring Title IX and the absurd ways it funnels money from poor to rich here, so that objection is noted.

Virtually all of the problems with oversigning and medical redshirts and not-so-voluntary transfers go away if the incentives change. With an annual cap of new scholarship players instead of an overall one, schools are incentivized to keep everyone around in case they work out. I'd set it at 25 since there would be attrition still; you could tweak it if that ended up being insufficient.

4. Allow players to sign an early, non-binding LOI.

Moving Signing Day up is a dumb idea, but it's one that gets pushed on the regular because some people think the current "offer" environment is bad for player and program. They might have a point, but allowing people to sign mostly-binding LOIs before hiring and firing gets done just increases the chances that bad fits get locked in.

Instead, create a system where recruits can sign an early LOI. Parameters:

• The team must offer a scholarship on Signing Day.
• Team and recruit can have unlimited contact; other teams can have none.
• Recruit cannot take officials to other campuses; gets second to team he signs with.
• Recruit can withdraw NBLOI at any time until Signing Day.

A NBLOI offers more certainty for both player and program without the deleterious effects of locking players in early.

3. Add an FCS exhibition before the season. Other FCS games don't count.

Doesn't count against redshirts. Doesn't require players who are actually going to see the field to play. Adds another chunk of revenue with which schools can play more meaningful nonconference games. Prevents that week where everyone in the SEC plays Chattanooga at the same time.

2. Kickoffs that go through the uprights are worth a point.

Yeah buddy. Put some bite in those personal fouls after touchdowns.

1. Multiball allows you to score as many touchdowns as you need.

In the last two minutes you can snap as many balls as you please as long as they're all snapped at the same time. You get the outcome of the worst ball, but if you score with both you get two touchdowns.